Montclair Film Festival: The Defending Champions and 'Frank'

The Verona band The Defending Champions are thrilled that their song "Raise My Glass" is in the trailer for "Frank," a film from Ireland starring Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender.

Fassbender plays the title character, the lead singer of a band who wears a big fake head at all times. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, "Frank" was written by Peter Straughan and Jon Ronson. The title character is inspired based on that of Frank Sidebottom, a persona of the late cult musician Chris Sievey. Ronson played with Sidebottom's band "The Freshies." In "Frank," Jon, played by Gleeson, is a naÃ¯f, not really very talented, keyboard player who joins The Soronprfbs (nobody can pronounce it) almost by accident. He tweets the band into a gig at SXSW. The offbeat comedy received strong reviews after it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Social media is making a big difference in the lives of The Defending Champions, too, as they Facebook their song's presence in the trailer. Matt Ryan, trombone player and singer with the band, said that they had signed a rights licensing agreement with the music company Playground about two years ago. In February, the band was notified that Artificial Eye wanted to license "Raise My Glass."

"We didn't even know what movie it was until the trailer was released about a month ago," Ryan said. The trailer has brought welcome exposure to the band: "I just checked iTunes this week, and we've had purchases for the song in the trailer in Japan, Canada, Great Britain, and Russia," Ryan said. While the band isn't credited in the clip, they have been posting links on YouTube and elsewhere.

He and his bandmates look forward to seeing the film, though they are playing a gig at Tierney's on Friday, May 2, when the film is playing.

The Verona band The Defending Champions are thrilled that their song "Raise My Glass" is in the trailer for "Frank," a film from Ireland starring Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender.

Fassbender plays the title character, the lead singer of a band who wears a big fake head at all times. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, "Frank" was written by Peter Straughan and Jon Ronson. The title character is inspired based on that of Frank Sidebottom, a persona of the late cult musician Chris Sievey. Ronson played with Sidebottom's band "The Freshies." In "Frank," Jon, played by Gleeson, is a naÃ¯f, not really very talented, keyboard player who joins The Soronprfbs (nobody can pronounce it) almost by accident. He tweets the band into a gig at SXSW. The offbeat comedy received strong reviews after it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Social media is making a big difference in the lives of The Defending Champions, too, as they Facebook their song's presence in the trailer. Matt Ryan, trombone player and singer with the band, said that they had signed a rights licensing agreement with the music company Playground about two years ago. In February, the band was notified that Artificial Eye wanted to license "Raise My Glass."

"We didn't even know what movie it was until the trailer was released about a month ago," Ryan said. The trailer has brought welcome exposure to the band: "I just checked iTunes this week, and we've had purchases for the song in the trailer in Japan, Canada, Great Britain, and Russia," Ryan said. While the band isn't credited in the clip, they have been posting links on YouTube and elsewhere.

He and his bandmates look forward to seeing the film, though they are playing a gig at Tierney's on Friday, May 2, when the film is playing.